CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Phillies have a handful of new, impact players in their spring-training clubhouse, but much of the focus remains on who is not here.
So, it was not surprising that moments after participating in a news conference to announce Aaron Nola’s four-year, $45 million contract extension on Thursday, general manager Matt Klentak was peppered with questions about the status of the team’s pursuit of free agents Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.
“I don't know when some of these free agents are going to sign," Klentak said. "A lot of people are curious to see where these guys are going to go. I am too.
“We’re going to continue to play it out and see what happens. We’re plenty willing to make commitments when the time is right. We're comfortable that we've put our best foot forward. But it takes more than one party’s willingness to do that.”
Klentak made the point that, regardless of what happens with Machado and Harper, the Phils have had a productive offseason.
“We’ve had an objectively excellent offseason,” he said. “The notion that if we fail to sign a big free agent it’s a failure off an offseason, I don’t agree with that.
“I think if you look at our offseason, we’ve done just about everything that we set out to do.”
The Phillies addressed significant defensive shortcomings by adding Andrew McCutchen to the outfield and moving Rhys Hoskins to first base. They upgraded the offense and defense at shortstop and catcher with Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto, respectively. They helped the bullpen with the addition of David Robertson and lefties James Pazos and Jose Alvarez.
“A lot of years, that’s a complete, thorough and successful offseason, and I really think it is,” Klentak said. “I’m not trying to throw cold water on the idea that we may still sign a free agent. We are going to continue to explore that market because there are still several really good free agents out there.”
With an improved roster comes more pressure to win.
Klentak is feeling a different vibe.
“I think pressure is the wrong word,” he said. “If you’re feeling pressure, you’re in the wrong line of work. What I’m feeling is excitement. We went through several lean years in a rebuild. We did that to put ourselves in a position to compete and make aggressive moves to put us in contention.
“We were a first place team until August and then we faded late last season. In an effort to make sure we don’t fade late this year, we’ve been more aggressive this offseason. But ‘pressure’ is not the right word. We’re motivated, we’re driven and we’re excited.”
Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device.